


Knit-Wits in Stitches

by shnuffeluv



Category: The Two Princes (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Craft Store, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, Identity Porn, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27467353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: Rupert and Layla have been fighting to get the manager's position at the local craft store they both work at. Rupert finds out that Layla is actually a trans man named Amir one night, and now Rupert has a problem: he's the only one who knows that "Layla" isn't cis in their entire workplace.What's a guy to do?
Relationships: Amir/Rupert (Two Princes Podcast)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	Knit-Wits in Stitches

"Ah, dammit!" Rupert muttered under his breath as he looked at the utter chaos before him. "I _just_ cleaned this up!"

Indeed he had. He had just cleaned the aisle he was looking down not more than half an hour ago. He had left to go help a customer, and had returned to the yarn section, fully prepared to place some fifty percent off stickers, only to find the entire aisle a mess again. That's what he got for working retail five blocks from a school on a Friday afternoon. He grumbled and went through the yarn, sorting it again by color, brand, and price, before placing the stickers he had been asked to.

He left the aisle, trying not to trudge and keep his customer-service smile in place. His hands were trembling, and his stomach snarled. He had yet to take a break for lunch. If he was caught in the back room, he had no doubt that the manager would have his head. Fortunately for him, that manager wasn't long for this store. Word was that she was quitting in order to start a family with her husband. How anyone had fallen for her long enough to marry her, Rupert didn't know, but it wasn't important.

Going up to the registers for his last hour of the shift, he inwardly scowled when he saw who he'd be working next to for the next hour. "Prince," he said shortly to the woman behind the register.

"West," she responded with just as much disdain. "I don't suppose you're trying to get the managerial position still?"

"Well, I would have taken a lunch break by now if I were," Rupert said through grit teeth bared in a smile. He stepped behind the second register and got the computer online for the afternoon rush.

The woman tutted. "Shame. We both know that position is going to me, I don't know why you try."

"Oh come off it, Layla," Rupert said, rolling his eyes. "You were hired the same day I was. You have no seniority over me."

Layla rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm obviously the better choice, I'm a business major in college. You're, what, a high school drop-out?"

"I graduated high school," he replied shortly. "College just wasn't for me, you know that just as much as anyone else here."

"Didn't make your mommy very happy, though," Layla sneered.

Rupert counted down from ten slowly in his head. "Actually, my father was more pissed than my mother. But it doesn't matter. I did what was best for me."

"Still means you're not getting the position," Layla said, smirking as she greeted the customer walking up to her.

Somehow, Rupert managed to not strangle Layla for the rest of the shift he was working. He got out of there with his life, and managed to not pass out on the bus ride back home. His mother wouldn't be back from her job for another hour, so Rupert went to his room and crocheted. He was working on a small star, a little present for one of his online friends. He checked to see if he was online, but no such luck. Rupert sighed.

They had met on a crafting Discord server a little over five months ago. He had been questioning his gender, and Rupert helped him a lot through DM's. As far as Rupert knew, he still hadn't chosen a name yet, but he had been trying out "Chad" the past couple weeks. Usually he didn't come online until at least six Rupert's time, but Rupert always held out hope on days like today, when work was just too much, that Chad would be on and Rupert could vent, just a little, in their DM's.

Chad's life sucked, from what Rupert knew. He had entirely too much work every day from school; he nearly cried every time he got a new assignment. His father wasn't accepting of anything LGBT. And he wasn't out to his mother yet. He wanted a name to stick with first. That didn't mean that Chad wasn't there for Rupert, though. Quite the opposite, Rupert had to remind Chad to take care of himself day in and day out, because he would want to make sure that Rupert and their other friends were okay, first and foremost.

Rupert crocheted stitch after stitch until his back hurt and he saw Chad come online. He tied off the star and smiled when he saw Chad's message pop up on his screen. _Got a minute?_

A quick reply of, _Anything for you, darling :P_ and they were chatting up a storm. This weekend was apparently a weekend where Chad had to go visit his father, be deadnamed over and over again, and generally suffer. And it didn't help that he had work starting immediately after his classes with that one coworker he hated. The coworker who was trying to take the position Chad needed in order to help pay his tuition.

Rupert was typing reassurances to Chad when he heard his mother come home. He called out a hello to her from his room. She told him dinner was going to be in ten and he finished typing Chad and sent the message, heading out to his mom. "Hey, Mom," he sighed.

Her mother gave him a knowing look. "That bad of a day, was it?" she asked.

"Worse," Rupert said. "Layla went after me again. Below the belt shots and all."

His mother winced. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I just...I wish she didn't go after me for not going to college. I don't learn well that way. Everyone at work _knows_ how disappointed I was that I had to drop out. Why can't she just...be kind?"

"I don't know, honey," his mother said. "Want some comfort food tonight to compensate?"

"Please," Rupert groaned.

They had chicken with mashed potatoes, and Rupert kept talking to Chad as they ate. Chad was wanting to try a new name, one his mother had said he would have been named if he were a boy: Amir.

Rupert smiled when he saw it and typed, _I'm willing to do that, Amir!_

And the heart emojis he got in return made his heart warm. He loved Amir, and would do just about anything for him. His mother sent him a smile. "That online friend of yours?" she asked.

Rupert nodded. "He's trying out a new name, and this one might stick," he said.

"Good for him," she said.

"Is dad coming back from that business trip this weekend? Or the next?" Rupert asked.

"One after this one," his mother replied absently.

"It's lonely when he's not here," Rupert admitted softly.

"I know," his mother sighed, shaking her head. "Honestly I worry he'll work himself to death."

Rupert nodded. "I do wish that he would stay home more often. It hurts when he's not there, you know? I want him to be able to be proud of me, but he can't see all the hard work I do if he's never around."

"I know, sweetheart," his mother tutted. "He'll come around at some point, though, I know it."

"Yeah," Rupert said, knowing full well that the odds weren't in his favor. His father was a traditional man, and his mother only recently came around to the thought of him being gay. He hadn't even _told_ his father about it.

Rupert went back to his room after dinner and on his computer, he smiled. One of the admins of the Discord server he and Amir shared had finally added a selfies channel. Everyone was sending pictures of them with their crafts. Rupert aww'ed at some of the amigurumis a few people sent and grinned when he saw the knitting some of the others were sending. He scrolled down to the bottom, and time froze when he saw the latest picture.

Amir had sent a picture saying, "Pre-transition photo, but I finished my latest knit hat!" It was blue, pink, and white, the trans pride flag, but that's not what made his heart stop. He looked at Amir's face. That nose, the jawline, and those eyes. The eyes that shone in the picture with every ounce of happiness he could muster.

The eyes that always looked at him with contempt whenever he worked at the craft store.

"Layla?!"

**Author's Note:**

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